Unemployment and the Entitled Worker: Job-Entitlement and Radical Political Attitudes among the Youthful Unemployed

Abstract

This paper explores a tentative theory of an emerging culture of entitlement among young workers. Using a sample of predominantly college-educated, young, unemployed workers, I explore the new sources of entitlement-belief and examine the proposition that believing oneself to be entitled to a good job heightens dispositions toward radicalism among the unemployed. The findings show strong jobentitlement beliefs among these workers and support the notion that the highlyentitled worker is more likely to develop radical views of his or her unemployment. The findings also indicate a significantly broader bases of entitlement-belief, from its traditional legitimation by individualistic performance to a new universalistic ideology. “Universalistic” entitlement is overwhelmingly expressed by the less educated, working-class young and by a substantial majority of the more educated workers. “Individualistic” entitlement remains strong, however, among the educated workers. The potential of a radical movement's emerging among young, highlyentitled workers is discussed.